Super Fat Tuesday

Super Fat Tuesday - Read Below

Today is the day many people splurge on their diets and enjoy sweet treats for Fat Tuesday. This special day is also known as Paczki Day in West Michigan.

According to Christian tradition, Fat Tuesday is the day to use up all of the fat, oils and sweets from your house in preparation for Ash Wednesday tomorrow, which is the beginning of Lent. During Lent, Christians traditionally give up sweet or fancy foods to recognize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Paczki's are a Polish version of doughnuts and a good way to use up all of the milk, flour, eggs, and sugar. Rita Thull, owner of R Bakery on 28th Street in Wyoming started baking paczkis at 7:00 p.m. Monday. She and her family, friends, and co-workers baked all night to make more than 1000 paczkis. Thull uses her Polish grandmother's recipe for paczkis.

The traditional flavor for paczki filling is prune. But, these rich doughnuts also come in a variety of fruit flavors or with custard or chocolate inside. Thull says she actually stopped making prune paczkis this year because they simply weren't very popular.

Paczkis are certainly not the only treat for Fat Tuesday. It seems every nationality has its own tradition.

One of the most recognized Fat Tuesday traditions in Mardi Gras, the French translation for Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras is a huge celebration in New Orleans, Louisiana, where people celebrate with costumes and parades. One of the traditional Mardi Gras foods is a king cake. A small plastic baby hidden in the king cake and whoever finds it gets various privileges.

In the United Kingdom and areas with a large Anglican population, Fat Tuesday is also known as pancake day because people make pancakes to use up all of their sweets and fats.

In Finland and Sweden people eat semla for Fat Tuesday. Semla is a bun filled with almond paste.

News From: http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=87205